The Eleven
by Tumerking
Summary: The Earth's population drops from 7 billion to eleven in the blink of an eye. This story is filled with grusome battles and mild language. Reader discresion is advised.
1. Chapter 1

The Eleven – Chapter 1

"Look, Dad, maybe I don't want to go to college. Maybe I want to join the army."

"Don't be silly. Every man in the Manaka family has gone to college and you will be no different. You're going to finish up your last year of high school with good grades and you're going to college, and you're going to-"

"Whoa, Dad look out!"

*Bump Bump SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!*

I'm Nara Manaka. I'm Seventeen years old, and I'm a senior at John Adams high school. I have short blonde hair, blue eyes, 6'0''and I yea I would say I'm pretty good looking. My GPA is almost 2.0; my favorite food is potatoes, I like girls in skirts, etc. I honestly don't think I'm better than everyone else. I know that I am. In my mind people are only good for two things. One: Messing my life up. Two: Making babies who will eventually grow into adults and mess my life up.

*Boom!*

My dad was driving me to my mom's place, and he hit the warning bumps on the side of the road that are usually used to wake up sleeping drivers. And my dad was smart enough to hit them while he was awake.

"Way to go Dad! We've got a flat tire!" I looked out the window. "I think it's the front right tire on my side….Dad?" I turned to see why my dad wasn't talking, and he wasn't there. The two cars in front of us jerked to the left, hit the railing on the side of the road, and burst into flames. I grabbed the wheel of the car so we wouldn't do the same. My dad was still gone, and I was beginning to panic. He was gone, but the car door was still locked and the seat belt was still fastened, but nobody was there. I put my foot on the break, and began to slow down. BAM! I didn't see an SUV coming from behind me, and it hit my dad's car hard. The air bag deployed and smacked right into my head. I could hear glass breaking all around me as the cars skidded down the road.

I head countless crashes for what seemed like hours and I was scared to move. Then everything stopped. It was quiet. I stumbled out of the wreckage, and looked around. Every single car, as far as I could see, had crashed. Some ran off the road and hit trees, some crashed into each other, and some did both. I searched what remained of the car, but I couldn't find any trace of my dad. I didn't know exactly what to do at that moment. I was really confused so I just walked up the road to see if I could find anything out. I knew I was going to see dead bodies, but I just didn't care. I wanted to know what happened. What I saw, or didn't see, shocked me even more than the most mangled of bodies. What I knew, or thought I knew changed forever during that woozy little stroll down the road. What I saw, was nothing. There was nobody left alive…or dead. All the cars were empty. There were no bodies, no clothes, there wasn't even any blood. Everybody around me was gone.

And I was alone.

-End of Chapter 1-


	2. Chapter 2

The Eleven – Chapter 2

Why the hell was there nobody around? Were all of those cars being remotely controlled from far away? But then that still doesn't explain why my dad disappeared without a trace. And there's no way anyone would test out remote controlled cars on a public high way. Did everyone just run way? But then how come there was no blood? No matter how you look at it, there must have been somebody who got badly hurt. Nothing made any sense.

I didn't know what else to do so I pulled out my cell phone and called 911. After a few seconds of ringing, an automatic voice message played. "We're sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this message as an error. Please hang up and try again." So I tried again, and I got the same message. 911 Was disconnected? So I tried all the other numbers in my phone, and I got the same message. I had no idea what was going on.

I screamed, "I'm so confused!" and got no response.

So, I did the only other thing I could think of. I started down the road to the find the nearest city and get help there. I walked past hundreds of wrecked cars along the way.

"-elp"

I heard a person's voice far down the road. It was faint, but I didn't care. I needed to talk to someone. I started running as fast as I could, avoiding tires and other scrap metal that had accumulated from all the car crashes. Then I saw a red truck with an arm hanging out of it. The arm was twitching slightly. As I ran closer I noticed that the truck was really messed up. The front wind shield had been smashed in, and there was a severely damaged motorcycle lying in the bed of the truck. It looked like it had hit the truck at a really high speed because the back window had also been smashed in. I finally got close enough that I could look in the side window and see who the arm belonged to. There was a large man sitting in the driver's seat with his arms spread wide. He had a large piece of glass sticking out of his neck, and there was blood everywhere. The man tried to talk, but the only sound that came out of his mouth was a low pitched gurgling noise. I turned around, bent over, and threw up. I had never seen anybody die before.

While I was bent over I noticed something strange on the ground. It was a small blue cube and it was glowing slightly. I touched it to see if it was hot, it wasn't, and I picked it up. It was only about one inch big and it intrigued me so I put it in my front pocket. I remembered the man in the truck and turned back to look at him and it was quiet again. He wasn't making any noise. The large man that I met not thirty seconds ago was dead, and I was alone again.

So I continued walking.

-End of Chapter 2-


	3. Chapter 3

The Eleven – Chapter 3

I arrived at a small town called Brookhaven. My dad must have driven past it hundreds of times on the way to my mom's place, but I had never seen it before. Nothing looked familiar except for the big cross on top of the church in the center of the town. You could see it towering over the trees from the highway. I hadn't taken more than one step past the "Welcome to Brookhaven" sign when I heard a voice.

"Hey! There's another one!"

I looked up, and saw a middle-aged bald man wearing an aviator jacket that was just a little too tight for a person his size. But aside from him there was nobody else. It was just the same as the highway. There were a bunch of cars that had recently crashed, but nobody in them.

"Hey, hey, hey, come here. My name's Alex. Are you okay? You don't look that bad. Go to the church and talk to Father Ares. He'll explain everything to you."

"Wha, what? What's going on?" I asked.

Before he could answer, a woman's voice came from down the street. "Okay, Honey that's enough. Let's go inside and introduce everyone."

Alex yelled back, "Okay, Sweetie!" he turned back to me and said, "Okay come on lets go. You're hungry right? How long have you been walking?" Alex started walking down the street, heading towards the church and I was following him.

"What's going on? Where is everybody?" I asked very puzzled at my current situation.

"It will be explained to you and the others once we get to the church.

"Others? Other people? How many more are there?"

Alex looked up and pondered, "Well let's see. There's me, Dora, Father Ares and…" he began mumbling to himself for a bit. "…and including you that makes eleven."

We continued walking, but I didn't say anything else. There were so many thoughts running through my head, and they were all fighting to get out of my mouth. Out of the many hundreds of cars on the road, and the thousands of people in this town, there were only eleven people left? Eleven out of thousands? That's like one percent. Was there only one percent of the world's population left? But before I could finish confusing myself even more we arrived at the church. It was a fairly large church compared to the small size of the town. There were twenty-five benches on each side of the building separated by a long, red carpeted aisle.

Alex motioned for me to sit down on one of the benches in the front row, and then went and stood on the stage with the same woman who called him earlier. They held each other's hands, looked into each other's eyes, and kissed. It was sweet, but at the same time kind of gross.

The bench I sat on held a few other people with expressions just as confused as mine. Never in my life had I been so happy to see other people. To the right of me were two guys about my age, and a cute girl wearing a school uniform. I spent what seemed like hours just starring at her pretty green eyes, long blonde hair, perfectly sized breasts, and ohhh that skirt. I almost forgot that thousands of people had disappeared from the face of the earth.

Unfortunately my fantasy was interrupted by an immensely obese man, wearing black pants, a black shirt, glasses, and a white collar. He was obviously a priest. He walked in from a back room and stood on the stage in the front of the church. "Attention! Attention everyone! My name is Father Ares. You're confused yes?"

"You're god damn right we are!" Screamed some skinny guy with a mow hawk from the other side of the aisle

"Don't say the lord's name in vain." said Ares while making a stopping motion with his hands, "Okay, so I do know a lot about what's happening" With those words I somehow felt safe. With those few words I felt that I would be able to see my dad again and everything could go back to normal. "But unfortunately I don't know how long it will be happening for" and all my confidence was gone. "So I think it would be best if we introduced ourselves first. Let's start with the young lady on the end." He turned his head towards the pretty girl, and she spoke.

"My name is Karin Mitsuki. I'm eight-teen years old, and I'm planning to attend Brown University in the fall." Her voice might have been even prettier than her body.

"Holy hell, that's a good school." said the boy next to her, "I'm Troy Atkinson" He said with a smile. He had dark skin and black hair. He was tall enough to pass for a twenty year old, and he looked to be just as strong as one. "And I-"

"Okay, I've played along for long enough." The man sitting between me and Troy stood up. He was wearing a dark suit and tie, and had neatly combed hair. It looked like he had just come from a business meeting. He walked over to Karin and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Hey! Let go of me you creep" Karin shouted, struggling to get free.

"That's nice. I like it when they struggle." He motioned to his belt.

"Okay, that's" Troy stood up, and jumped at the man. "ENOUGH!" He tackled the man to the ground, and sat on top of his chest forcing his arms to the ground.

"Hey! What was that for?" asked the man who had just been tackled.

"I won't let you hurt her. She's just a girl." Replied Troy

"Oh C'mon! It's not like she is even real. You're not even real. None of this is real. It's all just a dream, and I want to have sex with that girl in my dream! Now let go." He struggled to get free, but Troy was too strong.

"This isn't a dream, young man." Father Ares waddled down the steps on the edge of the stage. The steps bent inward and looked like they were going to break at any moment. Then he looked straight into the man's eyes. "This is real, and there is a reason why we're all here."

"Yea ri-"started the man on the floor, but before he could finish he was interrupted by the guy with the purple mow hawk.

"Then prove it! Why are we here, fatso? What do you know that we don't?"

Everyone got quiet, and stared at Ares. He started ringing his hands together, and walked back up the steps onto the stage. Troy got off of the man, and he stood up and brushed his suit off. He glared at Troy as he walked to the back of the church and leaned against the wall. Meanwhile Ares adjusted his glasses, cleared his throat and said, "Okay so the reason you're all here, why everybody you know and love is gone, why they've disappeared without a trace is" He paused, and looked around for a second, making sure everyone was listening. We were. None of us had any idea what was going on. The fact, that he had to make sure we wanted to find out was almost insulting. But none the less, I paid attention like my life depended on it because as far as I knew it did.

"God" And somehow my lack of confidence started to lack even more. "This is all a test from god." Everyone just sat still in disbelief. I had definitely heard of God before. I've read the bible, and I used to go to church, but I never heard of anything like this. A bunch of people just disappear from the face of the Earth, and the reason is divine intervention? Ares had a grin on his face like he'd won something. He seemed proud of his intelligence, and started to bask in the glory that was his knowledge.

"Holy shit!" replied the guy with the purple mow hawk. "You brought us all here to drop this load of BS on us?"

"No, I assure you God is testing us." Explained Ares

"God is testing us? GOD IS TESTING US! Is that why I'm stuck in a room with ten other morons who have no idea what is going on? Is that why everyone is dead?"

Everyone is dead. It had never occurred to me that everyone who disappeared may be dead. I didn't know what to do with this new theory. If everyone was dead then there was no hope. I wanted hope, no, I needed it. If I didn't have hope then how was I going to get through this? Then I thought again. Through this? I don't even know how long this will last for. Father Ares doesn't even know how long it will last. Maybe it will be over soon. Maybe it will be over five seconds from now. Or maybe it all really is just a dream. It would be great, if later I woke up, and I was lying in bed at home. I want to wake up! I want to wake up!

"I WANT TO WAKE UP!" My scream echoed through the church, and everyone stared at me.

BOOM! The ground rumbled.

"Wha what was that?" said the woman holding Alex's hand.

BOOM! BOOM! The ground rumbled again. It sounded like giant footsteps.

"Ares, what's going on?" asked Alex.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ground was rumbling even harder, and the noise was getting louder.

Ares looked unsure. "Okay, everybody remain calm. Get in the duck and cover position, and take shelter under the benches."

The suit wearing man screamed, "That's for tornados you-"

BOOM! BOOM! CRASH!

The sound was coming from right outside, and everyone was panicking. A few people got under the benches, but most of us were paralyzed with fear. Ares was breathing loudly. He was panicking like the rest of us. I could hear what sounded like buildings falling on the ground. The windows were dark, and I couldn't see outside. It was hard to believe that not thirty minutes ago I was walking along the street more scared than I had ever been before. It couldn't get worse I thought. There is no way I can get more scared than this. Then I stumbled upon this town and met others who hadn't disappeared and that gave me some confidence. Now, just a short time after I thought I couldn't be more scared, I was. Everything was getting worse, and I couldn't do anything about it.

There were a few more crashes then the noise stopped. It was quiet again. "Okay, uh" Ares began talking, but his voice was shaky. He no longer had an aura of confidence swirling around him. That satisfied grin he was wearing on his face before was replaced with a nervous imposter. "It's all over now." He began ringing his sweaty hands together "God's test is over. You all preformed valiantly, and uh, you will be returned to-"

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! A low pitched roar filled the church. Everyone froze. A woman across the aisle was crying into her hands. "Is it over?" she muttered.

BANG! Something had crashed into the roof of the church and pierced the stage. Chunks of building rained down from the ceiling and crashed onto the stage. The object protruding from the stage was a large, thick piece of iron that must have been over fifty feet long. The edges were serrated similar to a saw. While scanning the slab of metal, it seemed to get bigger and sharper towards the top, but I couldn't see the very top because it was hidden by what was left of the church's roof. Still frozen from the noise before, nobody was moving. Everybody was fixated on what was attached to the very bottom of the iron piece. Ares' head lay there motionless, severed from his body. Every part of him from his neck down had been crushed and all that remained had popped off, rolled slightly to the left, then stopped. His head landed up right and still held a facial expression. It was of absolute terror. Then the slab started moving up. It was rising out of the building and into the sky.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Another roar bellowed throughout the church. But this time nobody froze. We all ran as fast as we could towards the door for fear that we would be the piece of irons next victim. Tears filled my eyes. I had never run faster in my life. I could hear screams all around me. I could feel nothing but fear. I just wanted to run forever. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want anything else. I just wanted to survive.

I ran for about three blocks when I noticed two people standing in the middle of the street looking up. It was Troy and the man in the suit. I stopped and turned around to see what they were gazing at.

The thing they were staring at was as big as a house and just as wide. It had two legs and two arms and was all but naked except for a little piece of cloth hanging around its waist. The cloth was a dirty grey similar to the color of the things skin. In one of its hands it was holding the same slab of iron that had crushed Father Ares. It was holding a sword.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! The monster screamed as it started taking earth shattering steps in our direction. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The man in the suit grabbed his head and cried, "NOOOO! This is a dream! This is a dream! THIS IS A DREAM!"

"No." Troy replied, "This is a nightmare".

-End of Chapter 3-


	4. Chapter 4

The Eleven – Chapter 4

I noticed Alex, Karin, and everybody else who was in the church running towards Troy and I at full speed, but they were still two blocks away. Was I that fast? The man with the suit was in the back of the church when everybody was escaping so he had a head start, and Troy must be on the track team or something because he flew out the door. I had never really run hard since middle school when I played soccer. I guess I never lost my speed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The creature had only taken three steps, but in those three steps he moved from the back of the church, to right behind the running group of people. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The monster swung his sword, and it crashed into the ground eclipsing everyone who was running our way. Large pieces of road flew into the air and skidded across the ground crashing into buildings and cars. Troy and I took shelter behind a dumpster, but the man in the suit was on his knees in the middle of the street with his hands on his head. The beast lifted up the sword to reveal nobody had died. They all stood there, just feet away from the crater the sword had left in the street. The crater was long and deep and was blocking their path.

A man in a sweat suit tried climbing down into the crater and up the other side. "Ahhh!" he screamed as he fell in and hit the ground. The others panicked. Behind them was a giant ogre, in front of them a crater. Alex grabbed hold of his wife and ran left into an ally.

"Run, just run!" he cried. The others, while screaming, followed him and were now out of sight. A hand appeared on the edge of the crater.

"Help me up! Please, it's going to kill me! PLEASE!" apparently the man in the sweat suit had survived, and had climbed up the other side of the pit he fell into.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The beast looked to the sky and roared again.

I couldn't help him. If I ran out there I would have just died alongside him. I had already seen two people die today. I guess this is what war must be like. Even though it's terrifying I got used to the idea of death. Many people were going to die. If I didn't except that fact I would end up like the man in the suit crying in the middle of the street.

"Now!" Troy screamed, startling me to the extent that I fell down. He got up from behind the dumpster and ran towards the crater. "Grab my hand." Troy had reached his hand down into the hole. "Grab it! I'll save you!" He was trying to save the man in the crater. "Yes, that's it. Now hold on." The man in the sweat suit had grabbed on to Troy's hand, and Troy was pulling him up.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Screamed the monster as it begun swinging the sword around its head.

"Ah!" the man's hand was too sweaty and he slipped back into the pit.

Troy looked up at the monster. "Rrr, Grab my hand again. I won't let you fall this time!" He reached his hand down the pit once more. "Raaaa!" He pulled the man up in one fell swoop, and he fell on top of Troy. "Okay, hurry let's run." I couldn't believe it. Troy had saved the doomed man. I could see the man's frightened face as they were running back. He was so scared. Most people would be if they thought they were going to die just seconds earlier. But he was also grateful. He was almost smiling at the fact that a stranger cared enough to save his life. I saw Troy's face too. It was a strong face. It was a confident face. He had just saved a man's life, and was determined to get that man to safety. I thought I wanted to be like Troy. He was like a super hero. Saving a man's life no matter how dangerous the situation. Ha, I think I was envious. He was so much braver than anyone else I had ever known. That's when I knew I would remember Troy forever. The way he put his life on the line for someone he didn't even know. The strength it took to pull a grown man out of a crater in one pull. The look on his determined face. It was the same determined expression he had on his face when the beast swung his sword. It came down hard on top of Troy. It must have painful.

Pieces of road flew in my direction, but I didn't flinch. "No" I muttered. "You're not supposed to die. You're not supposed to die! Heroes don't die, Troy! HEROES DON'T DIE! Get up! You're not dead, get up! GET UP! You're the hero! YOU'RE THE HERO, TROY! You're not supposed to die!" Tears were streaming down my face. My vision was blurred, and I couldn't see anymore. "Please" I could barely talk. I was crying too much. "Just get up. You're… you're the hero, Troy." I was on my knees. I had never cried this much before. I had never been so hopeless. "Ah…no…" Now I couldn't talk. I was a sniveling mess. I tried wiping the tears from my eyes, but they just kept coming out. All was lost. I had become just like the man in the suit who was now lying on the ground pulling his knees to his chest. Everyone was going to die.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The creature didn't care. In its mind Troy was nothing more than a fly. I couldn't see what happened next. There were too many tears. All I know is that I ran away. I ran faster than when I was running from the church. Because when I was running from the church I thought I was going to die. This time I knew I was. I stumbled many times, but I kept blindly running while wiping the tears from my face. I heard someone scream while I was running. It was a terrible scream. It was the kind of scream that makes your ears ring, the kind of scream that's hard to forget. I tried listening closer to see which direction it was coming from, but I couldn't pinpoint it. It was close, but it didn't seem to even have a direction. That's when I realized that I was the one screaming. I would have been ashamed of myself if it wasn't for the current situation. Three people had died in less than ten minutes, and I witnessed it all.

"No!" the man in the suit yelled. BOOM! The monster took a step. I didn't hear the man say anything else.

I wanted to run out of the town. I wanted to get away from this place as fast as I could. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The thing was drawing closer. I didn't want to look back. I just kept running. CRASH! A car had fallen out of the air and landed right in front of me blocking my path. I turned around. BOOM! The beast had taken one more step and appeared right in front of me. I could see its large, black eyes widen. I could hear it breathing fast. Thump, thump. I heard a soft booming noise. Thump, thump. It was coming from inside the monster. Thump, thump. It was its heart beat. It was fast. I stared into its eyes, and it stared back at mine. The thing was excited.

It bent over and put its head right in front of mine and looked closely into my eyes. I felt its breath on my face. It smelled like rotten fish. I could see into its mouth. There wasn't much to see. It only had three rotten teeth, and a bumpy green tongue. It was drooling profusely, and the saliva was pooling on the ground forming large puddles. It took a deep breath through its nose. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It was a point blank battle cry. I fell backwards and got covered in drool head to toe. I tried to wipe it off my face as best I could, but my sleeve was already soaked from tears. The monster was still staring at me. Now sitting on my butt I tried scooting backwards, but the thing didn't like that. It stood back up and roared again. The creature lifted up its sword and started swinging it around in the air like a helicopter blade.

I didn't want to die. I didn't want to die like Troy and the others. I wanted to live. If I died here, then that would mean Troy died for nothing. He was better than me in every aspect. He didn't deserve a meaningless death, but I couldn't escape from this monster. It was faster than me. It was stronger than me. I couldn't run. I couldn't fight. No matter how badly I wanted to live it just seemed impossible. I had to come to terms. The thing was still swinging its sword. I prayed for more time. I reached into my pocket to grab my cell phone. I knew it wouldn't work, but I wanted to try to call my dad one last time. I wanted to hear his voice just once more. I got out my phone and was ready to dial the number when I noticed something small on the ground beside me. It was the blue cube that I had picked up earlier when I was still on the road. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I pulled out my cell phone. I picked it to take a closer look.

"RAAAAAAAAAAA!" The monster didn't care about my curiosity. Its sword was coming down fast. It was over. There was nothing left for me to do. I got distracted by a stupid toy, and missed a chance to hear my dad's voice again.

I wasn't in control of my body anymore. Reflexes told me to cover my head with my arms so I did. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists. BOOM! The sword hit. It was less painful then I expected. I barely felt anything. I guess that's what death was like. At least it was painless. Maybe I'll become a ghost. I guess that would be cool. But at least it's all over now. I'm free from this hell. Or…wait, what? I was thinking! I was conscious! "Hah, hah, hah" I was breathing! I was alive! I was really alive! I opened my eyes, and it was dark. I looked up and the monster's sword was hovering just inches above me. I wondered why it decided to spare my life. I followed the tip of the sword to the top of my head. It wasn't hovering. There was a strange blue light coming from one of my hands, and the sword was resting on it. No, it was more like it was struggling to break through it.

The light extended about two feet from my right hand, and formed a pulsating point at the end. It wasn't so much a sword as it was a kind of narrow cone. The beast lifted his sword. "RAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it was angry. I struggled to get to my feet. I couldn't believe I was still alive. There was so much adrenaline running through me. Just seconds ago I thought I was going to die, but now I felt more alive than ever. The pulsating blue light was still being emitted from my clenched fist. I just looked at it for a while, not knowing what to think. "RAAAAAAAAA!" the sword came down again, and again I covered my head with my hands. BOOM! The sword hit the light and stopped dead. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Again and again the thing swung its sword, but the light never weakened. "RAAAAAAAAAAA!" it was even angrier now. Frustrated, the monster threw its sword to the ground and a small earthquake ensued knocking me to the ground once more. I quickly stood back up.

I was somehow obtained a magical blue light which could protect me from anything. Not quite sure what to do with this new found power I started waving my arm up and down to see if the light would fall off or go out. It didn't.

It was getting darker now as a large shadow appeared over me. I looked up and it was the beast's giant fist coming down right on top of me. I fell back and held up the arm with the blue light, point up. It was pitch black now, but I was still alive. The beast lifted up its fist and there was blood all around me. I was covered in it. "OOOOOOOOH!" a deep cry echoed through the streets. But this time it wasn't mine. The thing's fist lifted up into the air and more blood rained down from the sky. I had unknowingly injured the monster's hand with my blue light. I could do this. I had the same look on my face as Troy when he saved that man. With this light I could defeat the monster and avenge Troy's death! I was alive now and it was going to stay that way forever! I was going to survive!

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The enormous creature took two steps back and readied itself to charge.

I was standing there covered in blood, sweat, and tears. "raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" and did the same.

-End of Chapter 4-


	5. Chapter 5

The Eleven – Chapter 5

I sprinted forward holding my right arm behind me. My heart was beating fast as I drew closer to the monster. I was still several blocks away. BOOM! BOOM! It took two fast steps and was right in front of me. "RAAAAAAAAAAA" The monster pulled its arm back and got ready to punch me. Without knowing what else to do I stopped thinking and let my body take control. While still moving I began to bring my arm forward to meet the beast's fist.

"RAAAAAAAAAA!" we both screamed.

I was splattered with more blood. The blue light extending from my hand drove deep into the ogre's flesh. Its fist was now millimeters away from my own. At the base of the blue light was a bulge that swirled around my fist and formed a sort of hand guard stopping the beast's punch from touching me.

"Oh!" it whimpered. It quickly lifted its hand back into the air. And I followed. The light was stuck in the fist and when the monster lifted its hand I went with it. I was now dangling off of a giant ogre and the only thing keeping me from falling to my death was a magical light. But I remained confident. I saw another hand come towards, and I moved my feet in a way so that I kicked off of it and landed on its arm. I quickly climbed to the shoulder before it had another chance to grab me. The hand came and I swatted at it with the blue light. A little bit of blood squirted out and it stopped just long enough for me to climb up its neck onto its face using the light as a kind of climbing axe. I reached its nose, and waved my arm around a few more times to scare the beast's hand away once more. That left me with just enough time to climb into its nostril.

I looked around, but it was mostly dark. The blue light dimly lit the small area around me. It was a tight fit. Maybe only an inch or two of space on either side of me and a couple feet above and below me. But it was safe. It couldn't grab at me and if it did I could just jab at its fingers with my blue light. Then the wind began to blow. Slime rained down from above giving my clothes a new layer of filthy stink. I sacrificed the back of my head to keep my face free from snot. I started to slip and new that I had to grab onto something so I stabbed the inside of its nose.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it screamed out in pain. Blood was now washing away the slime. A finger came in and I jabbed at it. It was pulled out quickly. Another finger came in and I jabbed again. I couldn't stay here forever. If I left the nose I would surely be killed in a matter of seconds. So since I couldn't go out, I went in. I climbed to the top of the nostril and started slashing it with the light. "RAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it must have been painful for the creature, but I didn't care. This thing was a demon. It deserved pain. More and more blood rained down until all my skin and hair head to toe was a deep red. "RAAAAAAAAAAA!" the screams never stopped. Nor did I. Further and further I dug into the nose, so far that its fingers could no longer reach me. All I did for who knows how long was slash and stab to the sound of the agonizing creature's screams. "RAAAAAAAAAA!" they became louder. "RAAAAAAAAAAA!" and more painful. "RAAAAAAAAAA!" and more desperate.

I wasn't the one screaming for my life this time. And suddenly it wasn't either. The screams stopped. BOOM! It fell to its knees and I was shot from the dark slimy hole. I soared through the air and was heading toward the ground. Was this it? Was I going to die from being thrown out of a monsters nose? I had very little time to ponder before I hit the ground. Slap! I hit the road, and my blood and slime covered body skidded across the street. But it was virtually painless. I moved my legs and arms and nothing hurt. I wiggled my fingers and toes, nothing. I stood up and looked to where the ogre was on its knees. Its eyes were open wide and water was dripping out of them. It was crying.

Did I just take a life? But it wasn't human. It wasn't an animal. It was a demon. It was a killing machine and it deserved to die. But despite the fact that it killed four people I began crying too. I don't really know why. It tried to kill me. I should have been happy that it was dead. But I was crying for the monster that killed Troy. I think I was just confused. So many things had happened I just didn't know what to cry for anymore. It was pathetic.

I looked up into the air, "Dammit!" I cried. "Now what? NOW WHAT! I killed this monster! BRING EVERYONE BACK! You hear me God? This is your doing isn't it?" I fell to the ground. "Please…Dad…just bring everyone back." Everything was getting black. My eyes were slowly closing. "Ah…Dad…" I blacked out.

…

"Hey? Is this one alive?" it was a man's voice. It was Alex's voice. "Hey…oh my god! Blargh" He threw up. "He…he…look at him!"

I opened my eyes to see Alex and his wife standing over me. "Oh! Get him inside! Hurry!" My eyes had closed again. I could tell the voice was female, most likely Alex's wife. I felt myself get picked up and carried for some time. While I was being carried I heard a few other voices.

"Oh!"

"What the hell happened to him?"

"Jesus Christ!"

Then after I don't know how long I was put down on something soft. The comfort was unfamiliar and startled me awake. I was lying on a clean white bed surrounded by a hundred frilly white pillows. It was evident I had been placed in a girls room because the walls were pink and hanging on the wall in colorful wooden letters was the name "Jessica". Stuffed animals were scattered all over the floor and there were several cluttered doll houses set up everywhere you looked. There was a tiny rocking chair in the corner with a teddy bear sitting in it, looking at me.

"Hey!" Did that voice come from the teddy bear? "Hey, Nara are you okay?" It was Alex and he was standing over me yet again, but he wasn't wearing his aviator jacket anymore. It had been replaced by an equally ill-fitting white polo.

"What? Where am I?" I asked still a little dazed.

"We brought you to a house. Everything is okay now." He replied in a calm voice.

I sat up, "Everything is okay? You mean everyone is back? Everything is normal again!" I was really excited.

"Um…no. But that monster is dead and everyone is waiting downstairs. We need you to come downstairs for something, but first take a shower. You're filthy." I looked down and the clean white bed was covered in blood and some sort of light green slime. "The shower is right next to this room. I already used it and it works. Hurry up." Then he walked out.

I went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. I was frightened of my own reflection. My entire body was blood red from the tip of my head to the bottom of my socks, apparently they had taken my shoes off. I touched my face and it was crusty. I touched it again with my other hand and tried to wipe off the blood, but to no avail. "No, no, no, no, no" I wiped again and again. "No, no, no, no, no!" I quickly turned on the shower and jumped in, clothes and all. I started washing off all the blood from my face and stripping off my clothes while in the shower. Every nook and cranny of my body had been covered in blood. It soaked through my clothes and dried in my hair. The water came out of the shower head clear, hit my body, and washed down the drain red.

I must have spent an hour scrubbing everything I could reach until I was back to normal. After I was all clean I stood there just staring at my hands. Did I really kill that monster? Then I remembered the blue cube. I leaned out of the shower and picked up my pants. There was a bulge in the pocket, and I reached my hand in and pulled out the blue cube. It was still glowing faintly. While still in the shower I squeezed my hand shut around the cube and the light came out. "woah!" I fell down and the light cut the shower curtain. I pulled the light back and make a big gash in the tilled wall. I quickly stopped flailing around and opened my fist. The light disappeared and the cube fell onto the ground.

"Hey! You okay in there?" It was Alex "I'm putting a change of clothes in the room you woke up in so, just hurry up." I carefully picked up the cube with two fingers and turned off the shower. I went into the room next door, got changed into a pair of jeans and a plain white T-shirt, put the cube in my pocket, and walked down stairs. There were seven people gathered around the TV. It was everybody who had survived.

"Okay, the jack ass is here. Let's get this thing started." Apparently the guy with the purple mo hawk had survived too.

"I'm not a jack ass" I replied weakly.

"Finally" came a voice from the TV. It was a man's voice and he had a British accent. "Took you long enough jack ass".

"Whoa, why is the TV-"I started, but before I could finish I was interrupted by Alex.

"He's going to explain everything to us so just be quiet and listen." He seemed really eager so I shut my mouth, focused on the TV, and paid attention. I couldn't even tell that the TV was on. The voice was coming from the speakers, but there was no picture on the TV.

The British voice started again; "Good deal" He seemed excited. "So Nara you were the one who killed the monster, yes? Everybody give him a round of applause." Everyone remained quiet. "I SAID, EVERYBODY. GIVE HIM. A ROUND. OF APPLAUSE. OR I WILL KILL YOU!" His voice was angry and serious.

A few people started weakly clapping. "Look at that Nara, they like you. They really like you." Said the British man in his excited voice again "So I assume you found out how to use that blue cube thing-a-ma-what-sit?" I was quite. I didn't feel like talking to a TV after watching so people die right in front of my eyes. I just wanted everything to be back to normal. "LISTEN TO ME! ANWER THE QUESTION!" He was angry again.

"Uh…yea, yes" I said startled.

"That's what I had assumed. Good for you. Okay so now onto more important business, why all this is happening." Everyone leaned closer to the television set. We were finally going to learn why everybody had disappeared and why we were attacked by a giant monster. The British man whispered, "I'm not telling." There was a stunned silence.

"What the hell is this?" The guy with the purple mo hawk screamed. "Is this some kinda joke? Are there cameras somewhere? "

The British man remained calm, "Stop talking", but the guy with the purple mo hawk continued.

"It all makes sense! This is some kind of stupid TV show! I'm leaving!" he got up and made his way toward the door.

Still calm the British man spoke "Sit down please."

"I'm out of here! You guys can all go to hell!" he grabbed the door knob and immediately froze. A few drops of liquid fell to the floor then he hit the ground hard. Blood was leaking from his ears and he wasn't moving.

"I told you to sit down." The man in the TV cleared his throat "NOW LET THIS BE A LESSON! If any of you EVER disobey ME. YOU WILL DIE! UNDERSTAND?"

"Wha…what did you do?" asked Karin who was sitting on the couch horrified.

"WHAT THE HELL! Did I tell you to ask me A QUESTION!" Karin froze. Blood poured from her ears and she slumped down in the couch. She was dead. This man was crazy. People were dying just because they were frightened. First the monster kills people with its sword now this man was killing people with is thoughts. This was definitely hell. People were dying all around me and there was nothing I could do.

"Oh my goodness I'm terribly sorry. I don't know what got a hold of me. Well, I have to explain the rules now so it would be best if everyone was alive to hear them. Upsey-daisy" The guy with the purple mo hawk who was lying on the floor opened his eyes. Karin sat up in the couch. They were alive!

"What just happened? Did I black out?" Karin asked when she came to.

"No, no, no. You were dead. That was my bad. Sorry darling. Now, Nara would you be a good lad and open the front door. They need to hear the rules as well." I was really confused. A TV which could kill people and bring them back to life with his thoughts told me to open a door to let "them" in. All I knew was that if I didn't open the door he was probably going to kill me too. So I walked to the door and opened it. There were three people standing on the other side.

My eyes widened "Troy?" Troy was standing on the front porch along with Father Ares and the man Troy tried to save. "Troy!" I was so happy to see Troy, and I gave him a big hug. "I can't believe you're alive." A few tears escaped from my eyes.

"Um…who are you?" Troy asked confused. The other two men at the door looked a little uncomfortable.

"I was in the church with you. Remember?"

"Yea I know that, but your name?" I had completely forgotten Troy didn't know my name. We were complete strangers. I hadn't even said a word to him before this, yet I was crying over his return from the dead. I looked into his eyes-

"OH. . Nara, get your penis out of his ass and get over here!" The TV man interrupted our reunion. "I don't have all day for you guys to play find the snake hole!" he cleared his throat "Sorry, sorry. I mean can you please pay attention to the rules before I VOMIT FROM MASSIVE GAYNESS!" he cleared his throat again "Oh, no I mean. I'm sorry. Just please come over here, grab a seat, and pay attention. Thank you!"

Feeling somewhat humiliated I walked over and sat on the floor and Troy sat next to me. We looked at each other and he scooted a few feet away. The guy in the purple mo hawk was giggling the whole time. "Okay now that you're all here let's start going over the rules. First-"

"What about the man in the suit?" asked Troy. He just interrupted the TV man. Everyone looked at him horrified.

"FIRST RULE: You NEVER INTERUPT ME, Second rule: If you die then you die for good. The first round was just practice. Die again and I won't revive you. This isn't freaking Harry Potter." A picture of Harry Potter riding a broom appeared on the TV screen. "Third rule: I know this sounds trivial, but I'm required to say it. Don't leave Earth." Harry Potter was replaced with a picture of a rocket ship with a big red X going through it. "And there are a couple more rules, but eh…they aren't that important." This had to be impossible. No sane person would believe this; yet I don't think there was a single person in that room who thought it was false. We whole-heartedly believed those stilly rules because we needed to. If we didn't have those rules we would have no way to explain what was going on. We needed those rules to stay sane.

"So, what the hell was that creature?" the guy with the purple mo hawk spoke.

"Oh yes. Every six days a creature will come and try to kill you." And another rule. Did that mean that every six days an ogre was going to attack us? I didn't' know if I could handle that.

Alex immediately responded, "What do you mean a creature will try to come and kill us every six days?"

The man in the TV cleared his throat, "Oh, I'm sorry if that wasn't clear. EVERY SIX DAYS. A CREATURE WILL COME! AND TRY TO KILL YOU!" Alex put his head down.

"What about these cube things?" I reached into my pocket and held out the blue cube in front of the television set.

"Good question boy. You each received one of those cubes upon switching dimensions. You can use them however you choose. Now, I have enough time for one more question." We switched dimensions? This was all really hard to believe, but after the giant monster and the bringing people back to life thing it was hard to say that it was impossible. It at least explained why everybody disappeared.

"So do the cubes-" I started before Troy interrupted me.

"Who are you?"

It was silent for a minute. Everyone was wondering that same thing. Everyone wanted to know who he was. I wanted to know who he was. He was the master of the world where monsters existed and magic was real. He could bring people back to life with no effort at all and kill them just as easily. He was neither God nor Devil, but he was just as mighty as them both.

"My name is Geppetto." The man calmly responded.

"And you are my puppets."

-End of Chapter 5-


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